Apparatus for quick tanning



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1.

M. C. B. E. DUPIN.

- APPARATUS FOR QUICK TANNING.

No. 583,792. Patented June 1,1897.

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M W. Ag MW '(No Model.) 1 r 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' M. G. B. E. DUPIN.

APPARATUS FOR QUICK TANNING.

- Patented June-1,1897.

m: humus mzns co, wow-urns. wunmcnon u c (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3..

' M. G. B. E. DUPIN.

APPARATUS FOR QUICK TANNINGL No. 583,792. Patented June 1,1897.

7/ r r I Z I M m V j/MM Wdlne as e s UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARIE OAMILLE BONAVENTURE EUGENE DUPIN, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO LA SOOIETE DES MATIERES TANNANTES ET OOLORANTES.

APPARATUS FOR QUICK TANNING;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 583,792, dated June 1, 1897. Application filed June 13,1896. Serial No. 595,475. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARIE CAMILLE BON- AVENTURE EUGENE DUPIN, a citizen of the Republic of France,residing at Paris, (Seine,) in said Republic, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Quick Tanning, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Processes of very quick tannage by means of f uller-vats, especially when carried on with very concentrated extracts, have not heretofore given satisfactory results because no account has been taken of the very important role played by the temperature in this kind of tanning. It is necessary, however, that the temperature should not rise too high, for then a harsh brittle leather of bad quality and bad color is obtained. Attempt has, it is true, been made to remedy this excess of temperature by stopping the fuller-vat to allow the temperature to fall to a suitable degree; but in thus remedying this difficulty another, equally serious, is encountered, for the production of leather is diminished, the time of the stoppages being lost for the tanning operation. Further, it is necessary that the temperature should not be too low, for then the tannage takes place very slowly, which is altogether contrary to the end proposed and causes the hides to remain too long in the vat. Itis very important, therefore, to be able to vary at will the temperature in the interior of the fuller-vat and to bring it at any moment to a degree suitable for obtaining leather of good quality and good color. For this purpose I have provided the following means: A

First. If the temperature in the vat at the beginning of the tanning operation is too low, or if during the operation it falls to too low a degree, steam is sent into the vat by an apparatus suitably arranged for the purpose and the temperature is thus raised at once to the desired degree. It is very important to be able at the commencement of the tanning to raise immediately the temperature to the desired degree, for the swelling and tannage of the skins take place better and more rapidly at temperatures between about 20 to 40 centigrade (according to the kind of leather to be tanned) than in the pious on two standards F F.

cold. By rotation alone of the vat it requires considerable time (especially when the exterior temperature is very low) to reach the desired temperature, which delay is contrary to the principal object of rapid tanning, Whereas by the introduction of steam into the vat a suitable temperature is attained at once. Another advantage in the use of steam is this, that it is not necessary to turn the vat rapidly if it is desired to raise the temperature, and the vat can be given a slow movement very favorable to the preservation of the skins to be tanned.

Second. If the temperature rises too high, air is sent into the vat by means of a blower suitably arranged for the purpose, so as to lower the temperature within the vat.

Third. The driving-shaft of the fuller-vat is provided with a suitable apparatus for varying at will the velocity of the vat.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, a mechanically-operated fuller-vat is represented, by way of example, whose arrangements are such that air or steam may at will be introduced into the vat and that its speed of rotation can be varied.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus. Figs. 2 and 3 are elevations of the same, looking at opposite ends; and Fig. 4 is a 1ongitudinal vertical section on lines 0 D and E F of Fig. 5, which is a cross-section on the line A B of Fig. 4.

The fuller-vat is supported by hollow trun- A tube K puts the hollow axle h in communication with a steam-inlet pipe, which can be regulated at will.

To deliver the air into the vat, a blower is arranged at I, which receives its motion from the shaft 0 by means of a driving-belt This blower, which can be put into action at will, delivers cold air (taken from the atmosphere) into the interior of the vat. It is, as shown, connected with the interior of the vat by the tube J, Fig. 4, which opens into the hollow journal h. Between the two tubes J and K, just mentioned, is arranged a tube L, by which the extract is introduced into the vat.

The fuller-vat A, which is provided with an opening for the introduction and removal of the hides and a suitable closure at for said opening, is further provided with a gear-wheel B, which is engaged by the pinion C, fast on the shaft 0. This shaft G receives its motion from an overlying shaft D by means of the driving-belt D. The shaft D is driven directly by the motor or through any suitable mechanism, and it transmits its motion to the shaft 0 by means of cone-pulleys E E. It follows from this that according to the position of the belt D on the cone-pulleys E E so is the speed of the vat modified.

As represented in the drawings, the conepulleys are shown for giving three different speeds; but it will easily be understood that the number of speeds may be increased by increasing the elements of the cone-pulleys. In order, therefore, to modify the speed of rotation of the vat, and consequently to modify the temperature in the interior of the vat, it is sufficient to shift the belt by means of a belt-shifter of anysuitable system without being obliged to stop the Vat.

In order to know how to modify the temperature, whether to increase or diminish it, it is necessary to determine the temperature at every moment. This can be elfected in the following manner: On one of the hollow trunnions, that on the left hand in Fig. 1, is placed a proof-chamber G, provided with a thermometer G. This journal or trunnion terminates in the interior of the vat near its periphery in a bucket g, Fig. 5, which is connected by a tube g with the chamber G. In revolving with the vat the bucket fills with extract, and, as it rises, the extract flows by gravity into the chamber G into contact with the thermometer G, to which it communicates its own temperature, which is also that of the interior of the vat. It is thus possible, without stopping the vat, to ascertain the temperaturein the interior thereof. The proof-chamber G also permits the removal at any moment of a specimen of the extract employed in the tanning, so that the condition of said extract, its degree Baum, and other properties can be ascertained.

To replace the extract withdrawn from the vat, a funnel II, provided with a stop-cock 72.,

is arranged to communicate with the hollow journal of the vat. The extract withdrawn may be put into the funnel, and on opening the cock hit will flow into the vat through the hollow journal h.

\Vhen air or steam is introduced into the vat, it is necessary to open a communication between the interior of the vat and the outside atmosphere in order to avoid the elevations of pressure. With this object a cock M is placed in the wall of the vat. A manometer or pressure-gage N and a safetyvalve m complete the apparatus.

To tan with my fuller-vat, the skins and tanning extract are placed therein, the vat is put into rotation, and the temperature therein is raised to a suitable degree and maintained during the whole operation within the desired limits for obtaining a very good tannage by operating as just described.

As will be seen, in my fuller-vat the temperature inside the vat can be raised rapidly and at will and can be brought immediately and, so to speak, instantaneously to the proper degree and be. maintained during the whole operation within the desired limits for obtaining the best results without ever arrestin g the rotation of the vat.

I claim as my invention or discovery 1. In combination with a fuller vat, a bucket connected with a hollow journal of the vatan d arranged to dip up the liquidin the vat as the leather revolves and deliver it into or through the hollow journal, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a fuller-vat, a proofchamber for holding a thermometer, and a bucket connected with a hollow journal of the vat and arranged to dip up the liquid in the vat as the leather revolves and deliver it into the said proof-chan'iber, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

'DUPIN.

lVitncsses:

A. ROUSSANNER, J11, T. ToUssET. 

